Almost everything, but not all is chewing gum in this world… there is also chocolate! So this week I attended Chocotec, a symposium organized by ZDS in Cologne.

Of course both worlds have some common features and I’d like to mention now about the new trend: Stevia, or better I should say “Streviol Glycosides”. This family of intense sweeteners includes Rebaudioside A, B, C, D, E and F, and also Stevioside, Steviolbioside, Rubusoside and Dulcoside A. This group of molecules have been approved by EU with the number E960 as long as they contain at least 95% of Steviol glycosides and a minimum of 75% of Stevioside and/or Rebaudioside A.

The origin of all those ingredients is the plant “Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni” which was first cultivated in Paraguay. Nowadays the main source of this plant is China.

Important, the maximum level allowed in chewing gum is 3300 mg/kg of Steviolequivalents or 5500 mg/kg as Stevioglycosides. And it cannot be combined with sugar! EU Commission Directive 1131/2011

Also important that it cannot be labelled with sentences as “Natural Sweeetener Stevia” or “Stevia-extract”.

I heard rumours that most probably we will see chewing gums with this sweetener being launched in the market by next year 2013…

A “deviation” form the issue of biodegradable chewing gum is the controversy about taxes applied to the product.

Some politicians claim that, as one can find chewing gum stuck everywhere on the streets, and this cost money to remove, then a tax should be imposed on the sale of gum. The money collected from this tax will be “supposedly” used to clean the streets. The issue was on the news some time ago in relation to Ireland and Wales. Now, two more news appeared recently with the same discussion, this time related to Mexico and Northern Ireland (see links from Confectionerynews.com below). As many of you may already know, Singapore is the only country where chewing gum is officially banned, except for those with health claims, which can be sold in pharmacies.

Wrigley is the strongest fighter against those policies and supports educational programs instead of taxes (which reach 50% on top of the retail price in case of Mexico!).

So I guess until nobody finds a successful biodegradable chewing gum (or should I say simply “degradable chewing gum”?), we will find these type of discussions here and there.